


Forbidden Rose

by erin_means_peace



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Best Friends, Brother-Sister Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Honey gets a crush on the OC too, Inspired by Anastasia (1997), Protective Siblings, Romance, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-22 09:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13163859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erin_means_peace/pseuds/erin_means_peace
Summary: Rose Tanake is just your average commoner girl. She was adopted by a sushi chef and his wife and dreams of becoming a professional musician. When she gets back in touch with her best friend Haruhi she's introduced to the host club. And  that's when her life changes forever. It's discovered that she's Tamaki's long lost sister! And Kaoru has fallen madly in love with her! Will the Suoh family drama keep the long lost siblings apart? And will that coupled with the difference in social classes, and overprotective brothers keep Kaoru and Rose from being together? Read to find out!





	1. Once Upon a December

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose gets back in touch with Haruhi and meets the Host Club!

**_12 years ago_ **

A young blonde woman with violet eyes and long blonde hair carried a toddler in her arms to an orphanage in Paris. She knocked on the door and a nun let her in the building. 

"How old is she?" A nun asks the woman as they sit across from each other at the nun's desk in an office. 

"She'll be three years old soon." The woman says and looks lovingly at the girl. 

The toddler played with a locket on the woman's chest and the woman stroked the child's light brown hair. 

"Then you realize there's a chance she may still remember what happened after you go through with this." The nun tells her. "And your son will be wondering what happened to his baby sister." 

"He doesn't know that she's his sister." The woman explains. "My lover and I agreed that we should keep her a secret, to keep his family name safe, and more importantly keep her safe from her grandmother. She's already upset that her son has one illegitimate child. I don't want to know what could happen to him, myself and our children if she ever discovered that there is another." 

"So Miss de Grantaine, I suppose this means that plans have changed." The nun suggests. "You wouldn't want to put your daughter up for adoption, if the current arrangement you and your partner created was still functional." 

"You are correct." She replies. "Originally we arranged for one of my most trusted maids to pretend to be the child's mother. This way I could be close to her and my son could play with her and no one would know that she is my child. And it was working. Until a month ago at a party my family held, my lover's mother noticed the two of us being very affectionate towards my daughter, and that she and my son seemed to be very close. My lover sent me a warning that she was starting to get suspicious. So we had to come up with another plan." 

"So your plan is to send your daughter away to Japan to be put up for adoption?" The nun asks. 

"Yes." Anne-Sophie answers. "As much as I love my daughter and wish to be her mother, there is too much danger in her being a part of my family or her father's." She says sadly and looks at her daughter. "Her grandmother is cruel, and would not hesitate to make her and her brother's life miserable. It's too late to save my son from her. She already knows about him, and he is too old to forget his life with me if I gave him away. But my dear daughter, my forbidden rose, is still a secret. And because of that, she can be saved from the hardships of our two families. I believe that she will have a much better life living with a couple that can truly raise her as their own, and give her all the love and happiness that I cannot." 

"You do realize that the couple that adopts her will most likely be of a much lower social standing than yours." The nun informs her. "Therefore, it will be unlikely that you'll be able to be in any sort of contact with them without giving away the truth." 

"I know." Anne-Sophie says. "That is exactly what we're hoping for. We don't plan on having any contact with the couple that adopts her. And the lower in class she is, the farther away from us and more importantly her grandmother she will be. Her life may not be easier financially, but in terms of quality I feel she will be better off in a class that will not judge her based on her parents affair." 

"I think that is a wise choice." The nun says and smiles. A tear rolled down her cheek. "So we will arrange to send your daughter to Japan to be adopted? And it will be closed so the couple will not know you or her father's identities save for your medical histories?" She takes out a pen and starts to write on a pad of paper on her desk.

"No...The couple can know who we are." Anne-Sophie says hesitantly. "But I do have some conditions that I would like to set." The nun looks up at her. "After she graduates high school I would like her parents to tell her where she came from. Explaining who her parents are, who her brother is, and the reason we chose to give her up for adoption. Given that information she can decide for herself whether she wishes to contact us or not. If she wants to, then we will be more than happy to let her. And if she does not, then...we'll understand." She says and looks sadly at the girl who had decided to take a nap against her chest."Do you think there's any chance she'll remember me?" 

"She may remember appearances and the place she lived before. But given she's so young, she'll probably think of it as nothing more than a dream when she gets older." The nun explains. 

"Good." Anne-Sophie says. "I hope she it's a good dream." With tears in her eyes she stands up and kisses her sleeping daughter's head. "And I hope she has a long, better life ahead when she wakes up." 

**_Present Day_ **

"Rose! Order for table six!" An older gentleman says and dings a bell. 

"Got it dad." A teenage waitress says and picks up the plates and brings it over to serve the table. 

After serving the table she heads back into the kitchen, wiping her fair skinned forearm across her forehead  before untying her medium length light brown hair from it's side braid and retying it in a messy bun near the top of her head to get it off of the back of her neck. The older man rolling up sushi looked over at his daughter and could see she was worn out by how tired her violet eyes were. 

"Why don't you take a break from serving sweetheart." He suggests. "I could use someone in the back to bake some biscuits." 

"Alright. I'll get started on that now. Thanks dad." Rose says and heads to the back. 

When she gets back there she notices a Shiba Inu dog scratching at the back door from the outside.

"Aw poor Lily." Rose says sympathetically and goes over to open the door. "It's been months since we've opened up this restaurant." She says and gives the dog a hug. "I thought you would've gotten used to being  away from me now. But I guess no one really ever gets used to being alone huh..." She says and gives the dog a sad look. "Don't worry. My shift will be over in an hour and then we can go for a quick walk! What do you think?" The dog wagged her tail in excitement. "That's my girl! Now be good until then." Rose says and goes back inside. 

She felt bad for leaving Lily outside. It was winter after all. But she didn't mind the cold and she had a doggy door to go inside to the staircase leading up to the house in case she ever got too chilly.

After washing her hands she prepared the dough, rolled it out, and then used a cup to cut it up into circles before putting them on a tray and placing it in the oven. She set a timer for five minutes and then clapped the flour off of her hands. She sighed and looked up at the bulletin board with pamphlets from music universities she wanted to attend. Unfortunately all of them were too expensive for her family to afford. So she'd have to pray for a full ride scholarship if she wanted to go. But that means she would have to compete with hundreds of other kids, at least half of whom were probably more talented than her and had more experience. Even though she had been playing violin for as long as she could remember and she was told she had the voice of an angel, she had never had a job preforming anywhere. And she didn't go to a prestigious high school like Ouran or Lobelia. So basically these dreams would probably just remain dreams. But for some reason her heart just wouldn't let her give up hope. She looked at the cup on the table and decided to play around a bit until the biscuits were done. 

 _Cup Song_ by Anna Kendrick 

 _I got my ticket for the long way ‘round_  
Two bottle ‘a whiskey for the way  
And I sure would like some sweet company  
And I’m leaving tomorrow, wha-do-ya say?

 _When I’m gone_  
When I’m gone  
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone  
You’re gonna miss me by my hair  
You’re gonna miss me everywhere, oh  
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone

 _I’ve got my ticket for the long way ‘round_  
The one with the prettiest of views  
It’s got mountains, it’s got rivers, it’s got sights to give you shivers  
But it sure would be prettier with you

 _When I’m gone_  
When I’m gone  
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone  
You’re gonna miss me by my walk  
You’re gonna miss me by my talk, oh  
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone

The timer went off and she went over to the oven and took out the biscuits, putting them all into baskets to put out at the different tables. But before she could she heard Lily barking excitedly, followed by someone knocking on the back door. Rose furrowed her eyebrows. They weren't expecting a delivery. Who would?...She couldn't contain her joy when she turned around and saw Haruhi looking in the window. 

"Haru-chan!" Rose exclaimed as she threw open the door and threw herself at her best friend! 

"Rose-chan!" Haruhi says and hugs her. "I heard you guys moved back here a few months ago but I was too busy studying to come see you!" 

"I figured as much." Rose giggled. "You really haven't changed much have you Haruhi?" 

"Well some things are different." Haruhi admits and blushes. Rose let her inside out of the cold and noticed that she was wearing an Ouran school uniform when she took her jacket off. 

"You go to Ouran Academy?" Rose asks. Haruhi nodded. "Did you get like super crazy rich or something!?" 

"No. I got in on a scholarship. If I study there I'll be more likely to get into a good University to become a lawyer." Haruhi explains. 

"Wow. That's amazing! Congratulations!" Rose says. "But...why are you wearing a boy's uniform?" 

"I like it better than the girl's to be honest." Haruhi says. "And I kind of have to pretend to be a boy when I'm at school." 

"Why?" Rose asks, now genuinely confused. 

"It's a long story." Haruhi says. "I'll tell you about it later." Lily runs in circles around Haruhi and sniffs her. "I see Lily still hasn't forgotten me." 

"How could she forget! We used to walk her all the time together when we were kids remember?" Rose asks. 

"Yeah. I still remember how excited you were when you said you found a sick stray puppy on a sidewalk out in the rain, and your parents let you keep her." Haruhi says. 

"And she's been with me ever since." Rose says and kneels down next to Lily and giggles as she licks her face. 

"Maybe we should all take a walk later?" Haruhi suggests. "I was hoping I could hang out with you today since I just had some exams so I don't have to study as much. And I wanted to wish you a happy gotcha day." 

"You remembered that today's the day I was adopted!" Rose exclaims and hugs her. "That's so sweet of you to remember. You really are the greatest friend I've ever had! My shift should be over soon! Can we meet at your house-" Rose starts but then Haruhi cuts her off. 

"NO!" She exclaims and grabs Rose's shoulders. "I can't go there! That's the first place they'll look! They're probably already at my house now wondering where I am because I ditched the club today!" 

"Uh...who's they?" Rose asks, growing increasingly concerned. "Is someone after you or something?" 

"No they're just friends. Mostly harmless...I'll explain later." Haruhi explains and blushes. 

Later that day Rose and Haruhi walked back to Haruhi's house with Lily as the sun was setting.

"Wow. Those Host club boys sound insane!" Rose says. "But then again, they are rich so I guess they can afford to be that crazy." 

"Yeah they really annoy me sometimes." Haruhi says and growls. "But they're also my best friends, and they're not so bad once you get to know them...Especially Tamaki. He's a big idiot but he's also really kind and wants to help people." Rose noticed Haruhi blush as they walked up the steps to her apartment. "Overall I think he's really-" 

"HARUHI!" A male voice exclaims and a blonde teen sprints over and envelopes Haruhi in a huge bear hug. "Thank goodness you're alright! When you didn't show up at the club today I was so worried!" He sobs. "I couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened! Were you kidnapped? Had something happened at home? Did you get lost and were outside cold and alone on the street somewhere without daddy to protect you!" 

"Daddy?" Rose asks and blushes. Haruhi's face was beet red. 

"It's not like that!" Haruhi assures her. "He just thinks of me like his daughter that's all." 

Lily sniffed around in the air a bit. Then her ears perked and she wagged her tail and sprinted into Haruhi's apartment. A few moments later another male scream could be heard from inside. Rose ran inside to keep her dog from making a mess of Haruhi's house and she found Lily pinning an auburn haired teen to the ground and licking him all over his face. 

"Kaoru! Help!" The boy wailed. "It's gonna eat my face!" 

"Relax it's just trying to clean up the food off of your face." A boy says and comes into the main room. 

He looked exactly like the boy that Lily was licking. These must be the twins Haruhi told you about. Both twins noticed Rose in the doorway. Kaoru guessed immediately that this was her dog and she seemed a bit flushed already. The twins looked at each other and a devious plan formed in their minds to get Rose even more flustered. She called Lily back to her and she got off of Hikaru. 

"Oh Kaoru..." He moaned. "That dog had it's mouth all over me, licking off pieces of rice and fish that I was saving for you to clean off of me..." Kaoru lovingly cradled his brother's upper body and looked at him lovingly. 

"I know... My tongue can be the only one that licks you clean." Kaoru says. 

Rose's eyes were wide and she was frozen in shock and fear. Haruhi said nothing about them being incestuous! 

"What the fu-" Rose was about to scream.

"Will you two cut it with the brotherly love act!" Haruhi exclaims. "You're not at the club and you're creeping my friend out!"

The twins erupted into laughter and held their stomachs as they laid down on the floor together. 

"We couldn't help it!" Hikaru says. "It was perfect timing! You should have seen her face!" 

Haruhi groaned and rolled her eyes. Rose let out a sigh of relief at hearing they weren't actually romantically involved with each other. Lily ran over to Kaoru and started sniffing and circling him. 

"I hope you aren't too mad at us." Kaoru says and holds out his hand to Rose as she came over. "We just like to mess with people. I'm Kaoru and this is my brother Hikaru. We're the Hitachiin twins!" They finish together. 

"Nice to meet you. I'm Haruhi's friend Rose." Rose introduces. "And this is my dog Lily. Sorry she jumped on you like that. She gets super excited around new people and food. That's probably why she seems to like you two so much. Especially you Kaoru." Rose says, noticing how much Lily was threading herself between his legs and pressing herself up against him.

Kaoru immediately blushed and stared at Rose. He saw shimmers and a pink background behind her as she  unzipped her jacket and took her scarf off. Her braided hair flipped as she took it off. Kaoru couldn't stop staring at her dazzling violet eyes and his heart started to pound. 

"Y-you can tell us apart?" Kaoru stammers. 

"Well you did just say your names." Rose reminds him and Kaoru's instantly brought back to reality. 

"Oh." He says in a disappointed tone but still blushing. Suddenly he was pinned up against the wall by Tamaki. 

"Don't mess around with Rose like that!" Tamaki scolds. "She's Haruhi's closest friend! She told me that they're like sisters so that makes Rose my daughter too!" 

"Oh great..." Rose says sarcastically.

"I want to meet Haru-chan's friend!" A little boy exclaims and runs over to Rose. "I'm Mitsukuni but you can call me Honey!" 

"Oh my gosh you are the cutest boy I have ever seen!" She squeals. "You must be so smart to be in high school at such a young age." 

"Actually I'm 17." Honey says and Rose's face goes blank. She looked up and saw a really tall and intimidating guy. "And this is Takashi. But we call him Mori." 

"Nice to meet you." Rose tells him nervously. 

"Hey." He replies. 

Rose noticed someone in the corner staring at her. 

"Who's he?" She whispers to Honey. 

"That's Kyoya." Honey explains. "He seems creepy. But that's only because he can find out any information about anyone whenever he wants." 

Rose suddenly grew scared. 

"Relax, there's no need to be frightened." Kyoya assures her and approaches her. 

He put his fingers to his face and studied her face inquisitively. He kept looking between her and Tamaki, who had finally let down Kaoru who was rubbing his shoulders. 

"Incredible..." Kyoya states. 

"What is it?" Honey asks. 

"Rose and Tamaki have the same eyes!" Kyoya declares and Tamaki and Rose look at each other and everyone around them gasps. 

"Wait why is that surprising?" Hikaru asks, getting over the shock. "They're not the only people in the world with violet eyes." 

"Yeah but theirs are so...similar." Haruhi says, noticing the similarity too. "Rose's are bigger and more feminine but they're the exact same shade." Tamaki suddenly paled. "What is it Senpai?" 

"I just realized...If Rose were blonde...she'd look just like my mother..." Tamaki says and everyone gasps again.

 Rose inspects his face and tilts her head. 

"Have we met before?" She asks. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..." 

"Now that you mention it...I think I do recognize you from somewhere. From a long time ago." Tamaki says. "Have you ever been to France?" 

"I'm from there. I was put up for adoption by my biological parents when I was three. I don't remember anything from that time though. I was too young." Rose explains. "Why do you ask?" 

"I lived there with my mother until I was fourteen." Tamaki explains. "But when I was around four years old I used to play with the daughter of her favorite maid. And she looked just like you..." 

Kyoya's eyes were wide and his body tense. The twins were both huddled close to Tamaki and Rose. Honey's jaw was hanging open. Even Mori seemed stiff. Haruhi couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did her best friend and Tamaki have a past? 

"Is it possible that..." Haruhi was trembling. "You two could be...related?"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Tamaki laughed. 

"Impossible! There's no way my mother would have another child and not tell me. That's a huge secret and we know everything about each other! There's no way she'd ever do that!" Tamaki says. 

Everyone let out a breath of relief. 

"I guess it's just a coincidence then." Rose says. "It's getting late. I should be getting home. It was nice to meet you all." 

"Yes it was wonderful to meet you Rose!" Tamaki exclaims. "We would all love to hang out with you again sometime soon! You should come to the Host club sometime!" 

"That's sweet of you to offer Tamaki." Haruhi says. "But Rose doesn't go to Ouran." 

"No but I can get her a visitation pass that would allow her come visit whenever she wants." Tamaki says and smiles. 

"That actually wouldn't be a bad idea." Rose says then looks at Haruhi. "I could come see you after school more often." 

"And Haruhi will be able to hang out with her sister and do girlish things together and become more girly!" Tamaki says dreamily. 

Both girls rolled their eyes. 

"Maybe Rose can bring Lily too." Honey suggests and pats the dog's head. "She seems to like all of us. I bet our guests would go nuts if they saw us playing with a cute dog!" 

"You're right!" Tamaki declares then points at Rose. "It's decided. In two days I want you to come to the Host club after school and bring your dog. I can send a car to your house to bring you there." 

"But you don't know where I live." Rose reminds him. 

"That's not a problem." Kyoya says and fixes his glasses, and gives Rose an intimidating smile. Her eyes widened and she gulped. 

"We'll set up the room to be like a park so you don't have to worry about dressing up fancy or anything." Tamaki assures her then thinks. "What do you normally wear to play with dogs?" Tamaki ponders. 

"Usually I just wear a light long sleeve t-shirt and some overalls." Rose tells him. He beamed at her. 

"My little girl in overalls! So cute!" He gushes then looks at the twins. "Twins! Get us outfits for everyone including Rose in two days!" 

"Yes Boss!" They say and salute Tamaki. 

"Oh but I already have-" Rose starts but Haruhi places her hand on her shoulder. 

"They'd design you something anyway. We all have to match." She explains. 

Rose said her goodbyes to everyone and went home. All of the boys offered to walk her there since it was getting late but she explained that she only lived down the road and this wasn't a bad neighborhood so there was no need. 

"Looks like we made some new friends today Lily." Rose says as she sits on her bed with Lily. 

She picked up the silver locket that hung on her neck. It was the only clue she had about who her biological parents are. She loved her adopted ones dearly and wouldn't give them up for anything but she had always been curious about where she came from. She thought about how familiar Tamaki looked. 

"Could I have known him..." She thinks and tries to recall what memories she could possibly have of that time. She had a few. But they were vague.  She rubbed the locket and started to sing. 

 _Once Upon a December_ from _Anastasia_

 _Dancing bears, painted wings_  
Things I almost remember  
And a song someone sings  
Once upon a December  
  
Someone holds me safe and warm  
Horses prance through a silver storm  
Figures dancing gracefully  
Across my memory

Suddenly she saw a bunch of people waltzing in a ballroom. It must have been a grand party for the rich. And for some reason, she was present there.

  
_Someone holds me safe and warm_  
Horses prance through a silver storm  
Figures dancing gracefully  
Across my memory

She saw a woman who looked just like Tamaki approach her and she took her hands and the two danced together. 

  
_Far away, long ago_  
Glowing dim as an ember  
Things my heart used to know  
Things it yearns to remember

The woman brought her over to a young man whom she linked arms with and a little boy who looked just like Tamaki 

  
_And a song someone sings  
Once upon a December_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the first part! Sorry it was so long but the next part will be shorter I promise! As you can see this story won't focus solely on a romance with Kaoru and there wasn't much of him in this chapter but that's just because this was like an intro chapter to give background for Rose and set the scene for the story. Rose's relationship with Kaoru will become a bigger thing in the next chapter. Please give me feedback if you liked this story and would like me to continue! I'll be more motivated to write more if I know people like this story and want more!


	2. A Day in the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You bring Lily by to the Host club's "Day in the Park" themed meeting and one of the twins takes quite an interest in you. And so does Kyoya, for a different reason.

Rose and Lily arrived at the school and a wave of nervousness flooded over her as she looked outside and saw how grand the place looked. 

"Oh my...This is quite a large establishment isn't it Lily?" Rose asks Lily and nervously steps out of the fancy black car. 

She followed the directions inside and worked her way upstairs to the host club. She found the music room and pushed open the doors. There was a bright light and some rose petals blew by her and she gasped when she saw the boys and Haruhi before her. The whole room had been set up to look like a dog park. 

"Welcome to the Host Club my princess." Tamaki says cooly and pushes himself off of the chair he was sitting on to come over to her. 

His attire consisted of a pair of light wash jeans, converse shoes, and a white hoodie with a plain red t-shirt underneath. Kyoya wore similar attire except his hoodie was a light purple and his t-shirt was a dark navy color, and he wore black jeans. Mori also wore black jeans and his hoodie was a navy color and his shirt was white underneath. Honey clung to him, wearing a pink and white striped shirt and some light wash overalls. The twins also wore light wash overalls with green striped shirts like Honey's. Haruhi matched the twins and her shirt had red stripes. Lily barked and ran up to Tamaki and stood on her hind legs, pressing her paws on his thighs. 

"Ah and our other princess, who we will be pampering today." Tamaki says with a bit of humor in his tone. 

He took Rose's hand a placed a gentle kiss to it. 

"I'm so happy you could join us today. Haruhi is so excited that you came!" Tamaki says. 

Rose and Haruhi smiled at each other and Rose was about to make her way over to Haruhi but she was stopped by the twins each linking their arms in one of hers. 

"Not yet!" They say in unison. "We've got to get you changed first!" 

Rose sweat dropped as she was quickly rushed over to a changing room. She walked behind the curtain with them following. She found the outfit that they designed for her and went to go put it on when she realized something...

"Uh...aren't you guys going to leave?" Rose asks. "I'm about to strip here."

"We know." They both say and smirk at her. 

Rose's face turns bright red and suddenly two arms reach through the curtains and grab the twins by the ear before yanking them out of the area to give her some privacy.

"How dare you try to peep on my daughter while she's changing you perverted shady twins!" Tamaki's angry voice shouted. 

Rose giggled and started to undress to put on the clothes that the twins designed her. 

"First you try to put Haruhi in a tiny bikini and now you're trying to peep on Rose while she's changing!" Tamaki yells and smacks both of the twins upside the head. "Do you boys seriously think that's the proper way to treat a lady-" He stops and gasps when Rose walks out of the changing room. 

The twins and Tamaki's vision changed to one of sparkles and a pink background as they looked at Rose wearing light wash overalls with an orange striped shirt and her light brown hair pulled into two low ponytails. 

"Well how do I look boys?" She asks and giggles. 

"So cute!" Tamaki exclaims. 

The twins just stared at her with dreamy looks on their faces. 

"I heard Rose-chan was done changing!" Honey exclaims and comes into the room. He gasps when he sees her and Usa-chan slips right from his hands. "So...adorable..." He says dreamily and gets a faraway look in his eyes. Haruhi followed him into the room. 

"Wow! You look great Rose!" Haruhi says and goes over to hug her friend. 

"Thanks Haruhi! You look great too!" Rose compliments. "Are your guests here yet?" 

"Yeah girls have already started coming in." Haruhi says and takes Rose's hand and leads her outside. 

The boys just watched her leave, still drooling over how cute she looked in her outfit. Mori had to walk in and pick them all up and carry them outside then shake them out of their funk so they could entertain the guests. 

The girls were all super excited to see the boys play with Lily. Honey's guests especially. Playing with a dog raised his cuteness level exponentially. Hikaru purposely put some peanut butter on his face so Lily would jump on him like she did two days ago so the twins could reenact their brotherly love scene they had preformed for Rose. Their guests nearly passed out from their feels. Rose watched and just rolled her eyes. Then she noticed some girls behind her looking at her angrily. 

"Is something wrong?" Rose asks. 

"I don't know, you tell us." One girl says and crosses her arms. 

"Yeah. Haruhi says that you and him have been friends for a really long time." Another girl says. 

"You'd better not get any ideas about dating him!" Another says. 

"Yeah he's ours!" Another huffs. 

Rose's face went blank. Oh if only they knew....

"Girls trust me you have absolutely nothing to worry about." Rose assures them. "Honestly Haruhi is more of a sis-brother to me!" Rose quickly corrects. "Besides, we've been friends for so long that if I did have any interest in him then we would be dating already." She says. All the girls let out a sigh of relief. 

"Oh thank goodness!" One girl says. "Sorry we came across as so mean to you." 

Rose was about to forgive them but then one of the girls got right in her face. 

"But don't you date think about trying to take away _OUR_ boys from us!" She warns. 

"Trust me, none of these guys are my type." Rose tells them in an effort to calm them down and the girls huff and walk away. "Rich people am I right?" She says and rubs Lily on her head. 

"What about us rich people?" A male voice asks and Rose looks up to see one of the twins and blushes. 

"Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to be rude-" She stammers and Kaoru just smiles and shakes his head. 

"Don't worry it's fine." He says. "Haruhi was the same way when she first joined us. I suppose our ways can be kind of...annoying to commoners." He says. 

"It'll just take some getting used to as all." Rose says. 

"Those girls weren't giving you any trouble were they?" He asks in a more concerned tone and looks over her shoulder. 

"Not really." Rose tells him. "I mean they warned me not to fall in love with any of you but aside from that nothing too crazy." 

"Oh." Kaoru says then his smile turns into a smirk and he pulls Rose in close to him and gently holds her chin, tipping her head up towards his face. "That won't be a problem now will it?" 

"It all depends." Rose says, smiling back up at him. A faint blush dusting her cheek. "Would it be a problem for you Kaoru?" The boy's confidence faltered and his eyes went wide and he immediately released Rose from his flirtatious embrace. 

"Oooh! She got you!" Hikaru says, poking his head out from behind a pillar. 

He stepped out fully to stand beside his brother then gave Rose a once over and smirked. 

"H-how did you tell us apart?" Kaoru asks. 

"There's kind of a difference in your voices." Rose says. "That and I noticed that Kaoru tends to part his hair to the left and Hikaru parts it to the right." The twins laugh. 

"You're cute and smart. What on Earth are we going to do with her brother?" Hikaru asks and both twins wrap an arm around her and look at her seductively. 

"Nothing. Unless you want your fangirls to kill you." Rose tells both of the twins. 

"I think they might try to get to you first my dear." Hikaru tells her and swipes a finger under her chin.

"But don't worry." Kaoru tells her and holds her hand up to his lips. "We'll protect you." He says and places a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. 

"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER YOU SHADY TWINS!" Tamaki shouts at both of them and the twins freak out and run off, with a fuming Tamaki running after them. 

"Those three really are something." Rose says to herself then laughs. 

Rose sat on one of the park benches and watched Honey play catch with Lily. Honestly it was probably the cutest thing that Rose had ever seen. Honey was so excited to throw the balls and Mori looked happy that Honey was doing something other than eating cake. Lily came back with the ball and jumped on top of Honey and licked his face, making all the fangirls squeal and Rose giggled then she sensed someone sit down on the bench next to her. She turned and saw one of the twins. His hair was parted to the right which suggested that it was Hikaru, but something in her gut told her otherwise.

"Hey, what's up?" She asks. "Is your other half hiding in the bushes to jump out so the two of you can serenade me again?" 

"Nope." The boy says and smiles genuinely at her. Then Rose knew exactly which twin it was. "But I wouldn't mind stealing you away for a little bit to see how worked up we can get Tamaki." Rose giggled as he took her hand and whisked her out of the room discretely before the two of them ran down the hall. 

"Won't you two get in trouble for ditching the club?" Rose asks. 

"Maybe for a little bit but Tamaki always forgives us. We are devilish types after all." Kaoru says and Rose laughs as Kaoru brings her into the room next door. 

"Your parents must have had fun raising you two." Rose jokes as she looks around the room. 

"Our mother's just as mischievous as us, if you can believe it." Kaoru says and closes the doors softly. "We used to help her out with pranks all the-" He notices her push back a sheet covering an ornate couch and find a violin case. 

She opened it up and sure enough, there was a violin. Rose gasped. It was gorgeous. Practically brand new. And it looked really expensive. 

"Do you play?" Kaoru asks. 

"Yeah." Rose says. "I've been playing since I was little. I've always loved music. And I hope to be able to go to University for it, so I can become a professional musician." 

"That sounds awesome! I bet you're really good." Kaoru says. 

"I think I am. But there's people out there that are a lot better than me." Rose assures him. 

"I beg to differ." Kaoru says. "Play me something?" He requests. 

"Aren't we supposed to be hiding though?" She reminds him. He shrugs. 

"The walls are soundproof. Otherwise you'd hear all the hullabaloo going on next door." He says and the two of them laugh. 

Rose tunes the violin and thinks about what to play. She didn't know too many songs off the top of her head but there was one melody she seemed to know by heart. It would be the easiest to play without sheet music so she decided she'd play a little bit for him.  

 _River flows in you_ by Yiruma.

Kyoya had heard the two of them enter the room but they didn't seem to notice him at the desk behind the curtain. This is where he liked to come for a little peace and quiet and he didn't want to be found out because then he'd have to find another spot to hide and this one was so perfect. But then he heard Rose start to play the violin and he froze. He had heard this melody before. He recognized the song she was playing but what shocked him was the fact that the way she played it sounded the same way that Tamaki played it on the piano. Apparently this was his mother's favorite song to play. He played it for him once, and now Rose was playing it the exact same way, even though she had never met Tamaki before two days ago. He played Tamaki's version on the piano in his head as he listened to Rose's violin version and his eyes widened. It was a note for note match. How was that possible? He jumped when he heard the twin clapping. 

"That was amazing you're really good!" Kaoru says excitedly. 

"Thank you." Rose says after blushing and doing a little bow.

"Do you only play the violin?" Kaoru asks as she turns around to put it away. 

"No. I sing too." Rose says then regrets it when he asks:

"Ooo! Can you sing me something?" Kaoru asks and stands next to her. 

"No thanks...I don't feel comfortable singing for someone I just met." Rose explains and blushes. 

"Come on please!" Kaoru begs and Rose crosses her arms. 

"You know for someone who's supposed to be entertaining girls, you sure are asking a lot of this one Kaoru." Rose tells him and his smile falls and a faint blush forms on his cheeks. 

"Y-you know it's me?" Kaoru asks and she smiles and nods. "H-how?" He asks and starts to fix his hair to put it back the way it normally was.

"Because from the minute I met you you were friendlier to me than Hikaru." Rose says. 

Kaoru's eyes widened and he felt his heart pound as the whole world fell away and all he could hear were her words. The words his heart had been longing to hear. 

"You took the liberty of introducing you and your brother to me at Haruhi's house. Earlier today you came up to me to make sure I was okay after you saw those girls being rude to me. And when I told you I played violin, even though you had never heard me play you gave me confidence and told me that I was probably better than I thought. And when you smiled at me after sitting down on the bench next to me, even though your hair was parted differently I knew right away it was you. I've never met any guy as caring as you Kaoru." She tells him and Kaoru just stared at her, tears forming in his eyes. "Kaoru are you okay?" She asks and reaches up to brush some of his tears away. 

He didn't know what to say. All his life he had been waiting to hear someone say those exact words to him. And they came from the lips of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Sure he thought she was pretty before but after hearing her play and having her say just what he wanted to hear...That had set up all the wood needed for a fire to start in his heart. He gasped as her thumb brushed against his cheek. The action, like striking a match, had stoked the flame. And the fire of his affection for her was now rapidly growing as he stared into her dazzling violet eyes. And there was no water nearby to put out the building inferno. Luckily, Tamaki literally burst in with a fire extinguisher. 

"Get away from my daughter pervert!" Tamaki shouted and Kaoru screamed and ran away as Tamaki started blasting him with a fire extinguisher then turning to Rose. "Oh my poor little girl! He didn't do anything unspeakable to you did he? Your lips don't look like they've been kissed and there's a lack of hickeys on your neck-" 

"You think we kissed?!" Rose exclaims and everyone walked in as she said 'we kissed' that and their jaws hit the floor. 

"They made out!" Mori exclaimed. So shocked he said more than two words. 

"No they didn't! Kaoru would never do such a thing!" Hikaru says aggressively, defending his brother. 

But then he looks at the way Kaoru was looking dreamily at Rose. He had seen this same look in his eyes before when Kaoru was in love with Haruhi. But now he was giving that look to Rose... _Oh no... I never should have left them alone..._ He thought and fear started to grip his heart. He decided to take out his anger by finishing the prank and grabbing the fire extinguisher from Tamaki and spraying him with it. Kaoru quickly got Rose out of the way to prevent her from being hit. His cheeks sporting a light blush from how close he was holding her to his chest. 

Once Tamaki was covered in foam, Hikaru placed a fake cherry on top of his head. 

"Look ladies it's a Tamaki Sunday!" Hikaru announces to he and Kaoru's fangirls and they all squeal. 

"Oh those boys and their pranks!" They say dreamily. 

Tamaki's fangirls didn't seem very pleased. 

"So much for not getting anything on you..." Kaoru tells Rose, noticing that some of the foam on him had gotten on her as well. 

"It's okay." Rose tells him. "It's easy to get off." She says and flings some back on him. 

"Hey!" He protests and flings some back at her. 

Soon the two start fighting with foam and laughing. Hikaru felt his heart break. Kaoru only ever laughed like that with him. What right did this girl have to just waltz into their lives and- Suddenly she was knocked away by fangirls surrounding Kaoru and begging him to fling foam at them too. Haruhi brought Rose a towel to clean up. Hikaru frowned at her. Then Lily jumped past him and landed on Tamaki, and licked and pawed at him to get the foam off, flinging it on everyone in the process to try to get to the blonde. Everyone screamed and ran out, Lily barking and chasing after them. 

Once the door shut, Kyoya stepped out and pushed up his glasses. "Well I'm not sure what all that was about..." He says then looks back at his lap top. 

He was on the website of the agency that Rose had been adopted from. "But there certainly is more to Miss Tanake that meets the eye. And I'm afraid I already know why." He declares and looks at the pile of foam on the ground that once clung to Tamaki. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are building up! If you want me to continue please give me feedback so I know I'm writing a story worth continuing! Constructive criticism is accepted as well!


	3. Oh Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone heads to an Ootori family resort to have some Summer fun and escape the cold weather. But things might be getting a little too steamy for Kaoru...And some truth is finally revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Kaoru gets some dirty thoughts.

"It was really nice of you guys to invite Rose to come to Kyoya's family indoor beach resort with us." Haruhi says as she calls Kaoru on the cell phone they gave her. 

"Yeah seriously guys thank you!" Rose says, grabbing the phone from Haruhi and thanking them. "I've never been to a fancy resort before." 

"Really Rose it's no problem." Kaoru says and blushes, playing with the string on his hoodie. "You're an honorary club member now. It's only fair that you get to come and warm up with us." 

"Well I still think it's really sweet of you." Rose says. "Thanks again. I'll see you guys soon." Rose says and gives the phone back to Haruhi who says her goodbyes to Kaoru before hanging up. 

"She thinks I'm sweet!" Kaoru cheers and fist pumps in the air, only to wince as he hits the roof of the car. 

"You really like this girl don't you Kaoru?" Hikaru asks and Kaoru blushes and rubs the back of his neck. 

"I mean I don't think I'm totally head over heels for her but...she is really special. I can honestly say I've never met any girl like her." Kaoru explains. 

"Yeah." Hikaru agrees. "She is rather different from most of the girls in our class, and at Ouran in general. It must be something about commoner girls that makes them so unique." 

"They're very un-common if you ask me." Kaoru says and the two brothers laugh. "Rose especially. She and Haruhi are the only girls that have ever been able to tell us apart. And they're best friends! Don't you think that means that fate is giving us a sign or something?" 

"Kaoru we don't know that much about her yet." Hikaru says. "Don't you think you're getting a bit too obsessed?" 

"Obsessed?" Kaoru asks. "I don't think I'm getting obsessed. It's not like I talk about her all the time." 

"Alright whatever you say." Hikaru says and rolls his eyes. 

Kaoru sighed and looked out the window. Hikaru looked at the bag by his feet and smirked evilly. He had a little surprise for his brother today.

Rose and Haruhi arrived at the resort, finding everyone else had already showed up. 

“Welcome girls to our monthly vacation!” Tamaki flourishes. 

“Monthly?” Rose asks in shock. 

“Rich people.” Haruhi reminds her. 

“You girls should go get changed into some swimwear.” Honey says. “Then you can come help teach me how to swim!”

”I’d love to help you out Honey!” Rose says happily. 

Honey cheers and runs over to her and jumps in the air at Rose and she catches him. He nuzzles his cheek against hers and she laughs. 

“You are the cutest thing ever!” Rose declares. 

Kaoru frowned and huffed, crossing his arms and looking away. Hikaru smirked and walked up to Rose who had just put Honey down. 

“Hey Rose, I took the liberty of choosing one of our mom’s swimsuits for you to wear today.” Hikaru says and Kaoru looks up, confused. 

“Oh uh, thanks Hikaru.” Rose says and takes the bag he handed her. “You and your brother have a great eye for fashion so I’m sure it’s amazing!” She adds cheerfully and Kaoru blushes and looks at the ground. 

 _She’s so sweet..._ He thinks to himself. 

Rose and Haruhi changed together in a stall nearby and Hikaru, Kaoru and Tamaki eagerly awaited the girls outside. 

“You didn’t give Haruhi and Rose anything scandalous now did you?” Tamaki asks Hikaru sternly.

”Relax boss, I didn’t get Haruhi anything.” Hikaru assures him. “She brought her own swimsuit. I just brought something for Rose to try on.” 

“I bet she’ll look adorable in it.” Kaoru says dreamily, little hearts floating from his head. 

He imagined Rose in a cute one piece suit, wearing her hair in ponytails and holding a beach ball. 

“I wouldn’t use the word adorable...” Hikaru says sinisterly and then Kaoru’s eyes widen and his face turns red. 

“H-Hi-Hikaru, y-you didn’t-“ Kaoru stammers then gets interrupted by Rose’s excited squeal from in the changing room. 

She comes out and Tamaki’s jaw dropped and Kaoru’s face turned even redder and he started sweating. Before him was Rose in an orange and white horizontal striped bikini. The bottom of it was held together by two bows on each of her hips. The top was tied in a bow behind her neck, her cleavage on full display. She was basically only wearing three triangles of clothing on her body. Her hair pulled to the side in a braid and an orange rose adorning the hair tie. Aside from that, her tender pale flesh was on full display. Kaoru quickly grabbed a towel and held it in front of his crotch, feeling all the blood rush to that area and knowing what would follow that. Even Hikaru bit his lip and discreetly wrapped a towel around his waist. 

“I might have done too good of a job picking that out.” He admits to himself. 

“R-Rose-chan! Take that off right now!” Tamaki demands and Rose gasps and looks offended, blushing and placing her hand on her chest. 

“Daddy!” She complains, but it was in a girlish tone that turned Kaoru on.“You want me to strip naked?” She asks and Kaoru let out a soft gasp and the tent in his pants got larger. 

Images ran through Kaoru's mind of Rose in a multitude of seductive poses in that bikini, moaning his name. He bit his lip and tried to keep up a neutral facade but was quickly failing. _Yep...I’ve got one hell of a boner right now._ He thinks and tries to think of the quickest exit to jump in a cold pool. Tamaki screamed and got struck by lightning from Rose’s response. 

“You did that on purpose to tease him didn’t you?” Haruhi asks as she walks out in her modest one piece. 

“Well that’s what he deserves for thinking he can dictate what I wear.” Rose says and places her hands on her hips. “I absolutely love this swimsuit! Thank your mom for me!” Rose calls out to the twins. 

“Will do.” Hikaru says and gives a thumbs up. “You look great!”

”Thank you so much!” Rose replies. “Kaoru what do you think?”

”I...uh...y-you look incredible.” He says nervously and gulps. “Absolutely stunning...” 

“Aw Kaoru you’re too sweet!” Rose says and runs up to him. 

“Uh Rose I don’t think you should-“ Kaoru tries to stop her but she throws her arms around him and presses her barely clothed body to his and embraces him. 

“It’s just a hug.” Rose says. “You deserve one for being such a great guy.” 

“Aw...thanks Rose.” Kaoru says softly. He gets caught up in the moment and let’s the towel go and gently wraps his arms around her waist. 

It was all going so well, until his hand accidentally slid down to her ass and she gasped and pressed herself into him more, causing his taught member to press on her inner thigh. He suddenly became very aware of how her breasts were pressed against his bare chest and he bit his lip to hold back a groan of pleasure. But Rose heard his sharp intake of breath, and gasped a bit herself. 

 _Not only is he sweet but...damn he’s sexy..._ Rose thinks as she gently lets her hand trace his side and come to his front where she pressed on his abdomen to break the embrace. She bit her lip when she felt how hard they were. She looked up and met Kaoru’s eyes and his lustful stare stoked a flame in her core. But yet again it was quickly put out by Tamaki spraying Kaoru with a water gun. 

“Daddy says NO TOUCHING!” Tamaki yells and Kaoru squeaks and runs to take cover. 

“You look so pretty Rose-chan!” Honey calls and she turns to him and smiles. 

“Thank you so much Honey-kun!” She says.

Then she notices he’s holding Usa-chan in front of his swim trunks and he was blushing. And Mori had placed Honey in front of his nether regions as well. Huh. That was odd.... She noticed Kyoya walk by and smiled. 

“Hi Kyoya!” Rose calls out to him. 

He turned to look at her, pushed up his glasses then gasped and spazzed and fell into the pool. 

“Whoa... I’m having some effect on the guys today aren’t I?” Rose asks Haruhi and she nods and laughs. 

"Come on Rose-chan." Honey says and takes your hand. "You have to teach me how to swim." 

"Okay Honey-kun." Rose says and follows him to the pool with Mori and Haruhi. 

The twins, Tamaki and Kyoya sat on some lounge chairs by the pool and watched Honey get lessons. Kaoru was pouting a bit as he watched Rose fawn over Honey. But then he got a bit mad when he noticed that Honey would wink at him and then purposely flail around in the water so Rose would scoop him up in her arms to keep him from "drowning". 

"Feeling jealous Kaoru?" Hikaru asks him. 

"I guess I am a little bit." Kaoru admits and pulls his knees into his chest. "Why does Honey have to always lure girls in with his cuteness? It's kind of disgusting when you think about it. He's purposely acting like a helpless child to manipulate her motherly instincts into giving him attention when really he's trying to get her to fall in love with him." 

"Wow. You've _really_ been analyzing this haven't you?" Hikaru asks his brother and Kaoru shrugs. 

"I mean it's not like there's anything else to do." Kaoru says then a devious smile comes across his face as he looks at his twin. "So that means we should make our own fun." His twin smiled back at him and the two of them laughed diabolically and snuck off somewhere. 

"Alright Honey I think you can try swimming without the floaty now." Rose says and Honey holds onto it tighter and looks scared. 

"I don't know." Honey says and shies away from her. "I'm worried I might drown." 

"Don't worry I'll be holding onto you the whole time." Rose assures him. 

"Well okay then." Honey says and hugs her waist after coming out of his floaty. 

Rose giggled. "Honey-kun, you can't swim like that."

"Sure I can." Honey says cutely. "I can practice my kicks can't I?" 

"Well...I guess that's okay." Rose says. 

"Water fight!" Hikaru and Kaoru shout and jump into the pool with water guns. 

The twins start spraying everyone and Haruhi splashes them back in retaliation. Honey gets back into his floaty and Rose helps Haruhi splash the twins. The girls scream as they're sprayed with cold water. Suddenly Hikaru turns on Kaoru and sprays him. 

"Hikaru that's cold!" Kaoru whines. 

"Oh right." Hikaru says in a seductive tone then places his fingers under his brother's chin and looks at him lovingly. "I forgot you only like warm water. I should have remembered from our many showers together." 

"Hikaru." Kaoru whines. 

Haruhi and Rose roll their eyes. 

"Two can play at that game." Rose whispers in her ear and the two of them giggle and start splashing each other. 

The boys hear them and look at them then their faces turn red and they see Rose and Haruhi with a pink sparkly background. 

"Rose! Stop!" Haruhi calls out to her playfully as Rose splashes her with water.

"You stop! You're getting me all wet." Rose complains and innocently bites her index finger. 

Kaoru started sweating again and he held his water gun in front of his crotch. Honey had a similar reaction but luckily he was deep enough in the water he didn't have to worry about hiding it. Tamaki was also in a very compromising situation when he noticed the girls splashing each other. 

"Cut that out!" Tamaki yells at them. "You girls are being too seductive! You shouldn't be behaving in such a manner when boys are present." 

"Too seductive?" Rose asks. "May I remind you that your whole club is based around seducing girls?" 

"Oooo!" Hikaru and Kaoru say in unison. "You might want to jump in the water too boss! Gotta cool off that burn!" Tamaki shrieks as the twins grab him and pull him in the water. 

Everyone laughed. Rose felt two small arms wrap around her hips and she looked down and saw Honey hugging her. Kaoru looked at him and growled. Hikaru noticed Kaoru looked angry at Honey so he sprayed him in the face with his water gun. Honey choked and spit out the water then his bottom lip trembled and he started to cry. 

"Honey-kun." Rose coos and picks him up in her arms. "Are the twins being mean to you?" He nods and wraps his arms around her neck. "You poor thing." Honey rested his head on her shoulder then stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at Kaoru, making him mad. "Would some cake make you feel better?" 

"Always!" Honey says cheerfully and even goes so far as to give her a big kiss on her cheek. 

Kaoru's face fell. 

"Then let's go get you some cake, away from those mean twins." Rose says and gets out of the pool with him. 

"Rose-chan..." Kaoru says softly and watches her longingly as she walks off with Honey in her arms. 

"Wow. Who knew Honey was Mr. Steal Yo' Girl." Hikaru says. 

"I approve of them being together." Tamaki says. "Honey is the most innocent man I know, and he could very easily protect Rose from anything that might threaten her. He's the perfect companion for my little girl. Unlike you shady twins!" He snaps at Hikaru and Kaoru. 

"Ha! We don't care what you call us! Right Kaoru?" Hikaru asks. "Kaoru?" He asks again when he doesn't get a response and notices his brother is gone. "Where did he go?"

Kaoru carried a piece of chocolate and strawberry cake over to where Honey and Rose were sitting in the shade of some palm trees. They both notice him coming and he smiles softly. He changed his swim trunks and hair style to match Hikaru. 

"I decided to bring Honey some cake, to apologize for making him upset." Kaoru says and places the cake down in front of Honey. 

The older boy blinked and looked up at the auburn hair boy. At first Rose was happily surprised that Hikaru was coming to apologize. 

"Thank you Hika-chan." Honey says. "I forgive you." 

So this was Hikaru? The twin turned and looked at Rose. There was warmth and fondness in his eyes. It looked almost like a longing gaze. Rose smiled at him. 

"Kaoru why are you apologizing for your brother?" She asks him and Kaoru looks surprised and Honey almost chokes on his cake. 

"Kao-chan?" Honey asks and Kaoru nods. He looked back at Rose. "How can you tell?" 

"Even though Kaoru changed his swimsuit to match Hikaru's and made his voice sound lower, I was able to tell the difference by the way he looked at me." Rose explains. "Kaoru always looks at me more fondly than Hikaru does. You can see it in his eyes." Kaoru blushed and looked away from her. His affection making him shy. 

Honey smiled, knowing immediately why Kaoru was crushing on Rose. Kaoru had been testing her to see how well she could tell him apart from his brother. Each time she's able to tell them apart he adds another layer of difficulty, to see just how well she really knew him. First when he whisked her away to the room alone in Ouran, he had only changed his appearance. Now he had changed his appearance and tried to make his voice sound lower. But she still figured it out. Honey also realized too that Rose would be a much better match for Kaoru than for him. 

"Rose-chan why don't you go hang out with Kao-chan and Hika-chan?" Honey suggests. Kaoru looked at him and smiled fondly.

"Are you sure?" Rose asks. "I don't want you to be here all alone." 

"Mori-chan is on his way." Honey assures her. "Besides I have Usa-chan to keep me company until then." He says and Rose smiles at him. 

"Okay then. I'll see you later Honey-kun." Rose says and leaves with Kaoru. 

Kaoru looked over his shoulder and mouthed "thank you" to Honey as they left and he nodded in response. 

"So Honey calls you two Hika-chan and Kao-chan?" Rose asks the twins as she sits on a towel on the ground by the pool with them under an umbrella. 

"Yeah. Those are his nicknames for us." Kaoru explains. "He has one for everyone." 

"Will I get a nickname?" She asks. 

"Maybe soon." Kaoru says. "I'm sure he'll think of one." 

"Why don't you give me one?" Rose suggests and Kaoru blushes. 

"D-do you want me to?" He asks and she nods. 

"Okay...uh...how about Rosie-chan?" He asks and Rose blushes and smiles. 

"I like it!" She says and Kaoru blushes and plays with the corner of his towel. 

He frowned in jealousy. 

"Kaoru and I have our own nicknames for each other back at home." Hikaru says. "At home we call Kaoru baby boy because of how much of a baby he can be sometimes." 

"Hikaru-" Kaoru whines but his brother continues. 

"He'll cry at the lamest things. Whenever a book or movie has a sad ending or someone interrupts him from his reading time." Hikaru explains and Kaoru looks sad. Rose notices and looks concerned. "Not to mention how easily frightened he is. Last Halloween our mother and I dressed up as a ghost and a zombie and jumped out of his closet and he screamed so loud and wet himself a little bit! We had to break out Twinkles the night light so he could sleep that night!" 

"Hikaru you promised you wouldn't tell anyone about Twinkles!" Kaoru exclaims in a hurt tone. 

Hikaru only smirked and was about to chivalrously apologize to Kaoru but then Rose surprised him by cutting in and calling him out.

“Hikaru cut it out!” Rose scolds. “Considering how close you two are you should know how sensitive your brother is.” 

Kaoru’s eyes watered and his lip trembled. 

“Rosie-chan...” He says softly. 

“So quit being a bully and trying to embarrass him! You’re not impressing anyone.” Rose tells him and Hikaru stares at her, speechless. 

Rose gasped when she felt someone’s hand brush hers. Kaoru reached out and took her hand in his and squeezed it. Rose blushed and looked in Kaoru’s eyes. He found himself getting lost in her violet irises again. 

“Thank you.” Kaoru says and brings her hand to his chest, over his heart. Tears slid down his cheeks and Rose smiled at him and wiped them away. “Thank you for standing up for me.” He says. 

“What are friends for?” Rose asks and wraps her free arm around him and hugs him. 

Kaoru instantly reciprocates and pulls her in closer to him. Hikaru, seething with jealousy from the affectionate display, stood up aggressively and loomed over his brother and Rose. 

“How dare you!” He yells at Rose. She quickly turns to face him and goes rigid with fear when she sees how mad he is. “How dare you accuse me of treating my brother poorly! You don’t know anything about us!” Her eyes watered and she let out a soft gasp in fear. 

A protectiveness suddenly came over Kaoru when he realized how scared Rose was getting and he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer to him, resting his head on top of hers, cradling her in his warm chest to shield her from his brother’s wrath. He gently squeezed the hand that was still pressed close to his heart and he covered her ear with his other hand so she wouldn’t hear Hikaru as loudly. Rose’s cheeks were bright pink, yet she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be enveloped in the safety of Kaoru’s warmth. Kaoru closed his eyes and smiled, gently pressing his cheek into her hair to help soothe her. Then his expression hardened as he looked up at his brother. Hikaru gasped. He knew that look. That was the warning glare he would give to bullies that would threaten Kaoru at school. He was shocked to see his brother now giving him the same look. He slowly backed away, never once breaking eye contact with his brother. He clenched his jaw and frowned at the brunette cradled in his twin’s arms. He had a newfound hatred for her. He turned and stormed off to some other area. Kaoru sighed when he ran off. He felt an urge to go after him, like he always did when Hikaru was upset. But then he looked down and remembered there was someone else he cared about that he had to make sure was okay. 

“Rosie-chan?” He asks softly.

She gasped as he hooked his fingers under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. Her heart pounded and she saw Kaoru with a pink sparkly background. 

“Are you alright? Did he scare you?” He asks. 

“A-a little.” Rose says. “But I’m fine now.” 

Kaoru smiles and hugs her again. 

“Good. I’m so sorry he yelled at you like that. He really doesn’t know any better. He’s still learning how to handle his emotions. I’ll do my best to make sure he never does that again.” He reassures her. 

“Thank you.” Rose says. “I hope I didn’t come in between you and your brother. You two have such a beautiful relationship. The last thing I’d want to do is threaten it.” 

Kaoru teared up again and hugged her tight. 

“Trust me Rosie-chan.” Kaoru says and a tear rolls down his cheek. “You’re absolutely perfect.” He pulls back to look at her. “Want to grab something to drink with me at the bar?” Kaoru offers. Rose blushed again. 

“I’d love that.” She says.

Kaoru stands up and offers his hand to her and she takes it and he pulls her up, placing his hand on her lower back to steady her, igniting her skin with his touch. The inferno that had been raging in his heart had just transferred a spark to hers. She didn’t object to holding his hand and walking by his side as they made their way over. They didn’t even notice the stares from Honey and Mori as they walked by. Kaoru was too busy memorizing her features, and Rose was doing the same, noticing differences from his brother by the way he looked at her. Anyone who looked at the two of them would swear they were seeing a couple that was madly in love with each other. But in fact their love was only just beginning. 

Kaoru placed their drink on the counter in front of her. Both of them sitting on bar stools next to each other. 

“I could only find one coconut so we’ll have to share.” Kaoru explains and puts two straws in the open shell. 

“I don’t mind.” Rose says. 

The two teens blush as they both lean down and drink from the coconut together. They lock eyes then blush, pull back and giggle. Kaoru notices Hikaru coming over and stands up and walks in front of Rose. She noticed he held his arm slightly behind him, as if he was creating an extra barrier of protection for her. 

“I came to apologize.” Hikaru says and Kaoru relaxes and steps aside so his brother can face you. “I’m sorry for yelling at you Rose. That was uncalled for. You were only trying to protect Kaoru, I realize that now. Can you forgive me?” He asks. 

Rose smiled and nodded and Hikaru smiled in relief. Kaoru teared up and embraced his brother. Hikaru teared up a bit and smiled too. Rose smiled at the two of them and then turned to sip more of the drink. When her back was turned Hikaru glared daggers at her. She may have won this battle, but he would never surrender Kaoru to anyone that easily. 

Meanwhile, Kyoya took a call he got from one of his servants in another part of the resort. 

"What did you find?" He asks them. 

"Your intuition may have uncovered a huge scandal for the Suoh family." The man on the other line says and Kyoya gasps. 

He paled, his hands trembling. He clenched his fist and took a deep breath.

"So my hypothesis was correct?" Kyoya asks. 

"Yes. We did some digging and found paperwork stating that twelve years ago Tamaki Suoh's mother, Anne-Sophie de Grantaine put up her three year old daughter named Rose for adoption. The couple that adopted the daughter live in Japan. Their last name is Tanake." The man on the other line says. 

Kyoya felt light headed and he sat down against the tree. All he heard was white noise. So it was true. Rose was Tamaki's long lost little sister. How would he tell him? Should he tell him? His mother must have had a reason for keeping her daughter a secret. Perhaps his father would know? If he even knew she existed. He placed his hand on his forehead and sighed. 

"Kyoya-san? Are you still there?" The man on the other line asks. 

"Yes. Listen to me carefully. Tell no one about this information, including my father. This is to remain top-secret understand?" Kyoya demands. 

"Yes. Kyoya-san." The man says. Kyoya takes another deep breath.  

"Alright. Here's what we're going to do." Kyoya says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh cliffhanger! Give me feedback if you'd like me to continue! 


	4. Journey to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaoru has an in-depth conversation with Honey about his feelings for Rose. Rose secretly meets with Kyoya to discuss something important.

About a month after they all went to the resort together, Kaoru and Honey sat together in Honey's house and had some tea and cake. Honey had offered to help Kaoru study for one of his exams for a class that he didn't have with Hikaru. 

"Alright, you've done some good work today Kaoru." Honey says. "So now let's move onto a more interesting topic...your crush on Rosie-chan..." Honey says and Kaoru's cheeks turn pink. 

"How obvious is it?" Kaoru asks. 

"Well I know that Mori knows." Honey says. "And Kyoya definitely knows because he knows everything. Haruhi's probably pretty close to figuring it out because Rose is her best friend and the best friend always knows if a guy has a crush on their best friend. Tamaki is oblivious as always but he'll probably try to kill you when he figures it out. And Hikaru knows everything about you so I'm sure he knows too doesn't he?" 

"Yeah..." Kaoru says in a somewhat sad tone. "I'm pretty sure he knows that I have strong feelings towards her. I'm not sure if he knows that I love her but he knows enough to feel threatened by her." 

"Threatened?" Honey asks and Kaoru nods. 

"He's scared that if Rose and I become a couple, he'll lose me to her." Kaoru explains. "I can understand why he feels the way he does. I felt the same way when I tried to set him up with Haruhi. I knew that if I got them together, I would be lonely for awhile. But I knew that once I didn't have to worry about Hikaru I would be free to find some love of my own, so I didn't get terribly overprotective of him." 

"You gave up the woman you loved to your brother to set you both free to find your independence." Honey analyzes. "You were mature enough to recognize that even though it would break your heart, it would be short lived because it would be worth it to see your brother happy, and then you could find happiness again with someone else. The problem is...Hika-chan is probably going to lose Haru-chan to Tama-chan. And now you have a chance at love again. But she's come before Hika-chan is ready to let go." 

"It's going to be Haruhi all over again..." Kaoru says and runs his hand through his hair. "I'm scared Honey-senpai. It was hard enough to have to give up Haruhi for my brother. I'm not sure if I can do that again with Rose." 

"Judging from what I've seen so far, I know you can't." Honey says. "The reason why you started to fall in love with Haru-chan are the same reason you started to fall in love with Rosie-chan. She can tell you apart from your brother. And do it consistently, no matter how you change your appearance. That's what lit the match to start the fire within your heart." 

"After that meeting when she came to visit us I knew right then and there that I was falling in love with her." Kaoru says. "But this time I'm prepared. Because Hikaru still needs me, he's not ready to let go yet. So I know that I'm going to have to let go of Rose too. I love her, but I can't be with her because of Hikaru..." He plays with the end of his shirt and smiles at the ground. "My sweet forbidden Rose.." 

"That's why you haven't been asking Haru-chan about her lately..." Honey notices. "You're backing off." 

"Hikaru got so mad at her..." Kaoru says. "And that night when we came home he was in tears because he thought that I hated him because of what he did. He thought I chose Rose over him when I protected her from his outburst. I guess in a sense I did. And it hurt him really bad. I can't risk having to choose between them again. It'll break Hikaru's heart if I pick Rose over him. And I can't stand the thought of hurting Rose by picking my brother over her. It's best I just let go now, before I get too attached." 

"But it's too late." Honey says. "I can tell that you already love her more deeply than you ever did for Haru-chan." A tear slid down Kaoru's cheek and he sniffled. 

"I thought it would be easy to move on if she was out of my sight but I can't stop thinking about her!" Kaoru exclaims. "Every spare thought I have is about what she might be doing right now, playing her violin? Is she helping her father roll sushi in their restaurant? Even though I've never been there or met her parents I like to imagine what her life might be like. At night I dream about being back at the resort, alone with her. Holding her in my arms and her holding onto me and neither of us letting go. I can hear that song she played for me on her violin on repeat in my head no matter how many other songs I listen to to try to forget it. And last night I had a dream about all of us in a carriage and then it turned into a pumpkin and was destroyed. Just mush on the ground. But a seed burrowed into the ground and then a plant grew from it. A rose. Rose...She's supposed to be with me after Hikaru and I separate I know it. That's why I've fallen in love with her so fast." Kaoru leans back and lays down on the pillows on the floor. "She's smart, kind, caring, gentle, determined, artistic and the most beautiful woman I've ever seen! Even though she's a commoner, to me she's like a princess from a fairytale. She's my Cinderella and I so want to be her Prince Charming." Then he clenches his fists and starts to cry again. "But now she's here and Hikaru is still in the carriage with me. The spell hasn't broken and I can't be with her until it does. Hikaru's taking longer than he was supposed to to let go and I can't be with my forbidden Rose until he does and so now I'm going to have to give her up like I did Haruhi-" 

"NO!" Honey shouts and jumps on top of Kaoru. "No no no no!" He says and slaps Kaoru across his cheek each time. "You're only saying this because you're still heartbroken over Haru-chan and because of that you're afraid to go after Rose because you're worried you'll have to sacrifice her to Hika-chan. Well guess what, you don't have to do that!"

"But what about Hikaru!" Kaoru shouts and then Honey slaps him with Usa-chan.

"You'll be helping Hika-chan by being with Rose! Didn't you ever consider that maybe Hika-chan seeing you in a relationship with someone might make him want to be in one too and then you two can both be individuals like you want!" Honey yells at him. Kaoru blinks as he processes what Honey just suggested. 

"I'm an idiot aren't I?" Kaoru asks. 

"That's only because you're lovesick and not thinking straight." Honey reminds him. 

"So then I should get together with Rose! Because not only would she make me the happiest guy in the world but then Hikaru can learn to love someone by watching us! Honey-senpai you're a genius!" Kaoru exclaims and hugs the smaller boy. Honey hugs him back. "Thank you so much!" 

"No problem Kao-chan. Anything to help out a friend." Honey says. 

"Now I can't wait to see her again! But how...I don't know where she lives. And Haruhi doesn't want us to know because she doesn't want us bugging Rose at her house and she's already made Kyoya sworn to secrecy. And she's poor so it's not like she has a cellphone-" 

"Yeah she does." Honey says. "I gave her one." Kaoru's head perks up and he looks at Honey holding his phone up. "I can give you her number if you want-" Kaoru lunges towards Honey's phone but he holds it back, away from Kaoru and he puts his hand on Kaoru's head, keeping him away from the phone as he struggles to reach it. "But...You'll have to do something for me first..." Honey says and gets a bit of a mischievous look in his eye. 

Kaoru knew that look, it's the one he and his brother would give people when they wanted to prank people. This wasn't going to be good. 

Rose walked down the street with Lily on her leash, following the directions on a piece of paper that was left in an envelope in the mailbox at her parents restaurant. It was an official letter from the agency she was adopted from saying that her biological family wanted to meet her at a specified location. After talking with her parents about it, they agreed to let her go. The letter was from the agency after all so it's not like someone was going to try and kidnap her or anything. She hoped...She took a deep breath and started walking in the direction the map told her to go. 

 _(Journey to the Past_ from _Anastasia)_

 _Heart don't fail me now_  
Courage don't desert me  
Don't turn back now that we're here  
People always say  
Life is full of choices  
No one ever mentions fear  
Or how the world can seem so vast  
On a Journey--to the past

She continued to follow the map, gaining more confidence with each step she took. 

 _Somewhere down this road_  
I know someone's waiting  
Years of dreams just can't be wrong!  
Arms will open wide  
I'll be safe and wanted  
Fin'lly home where I belong  
Well, starting now, I'm learning fast  
On this journey--to the past

A ball rolls past her and she picks it up and gives it to a little girl who chased after it. She ran back to her parents who were waiting outside the door for her. 

 _Home, love, family_  
There was once a time, I must have had them too  
Home, love, family  
I will never be complete  
Until I find you...

 _One step at a time_  
One hope, then another  
Who knows where this road may go--  
Back to who I was  
On to find my future  
Things my heart still needs to know

She turns around the last block and runs down the street with Lily at her heels. 

 _Yes! Let this be a sign_  
Let this road be mine  
Let it lead me to my past  
And bring me home...  
At last!

She heard someone clapping slowly outside of an abandoned townhouse. There stood Kyoya, the sun glinting off of his glasses, hiding his eyes until he looked up to meet her curious gaze. 

"Kyoya-senpai?" Rose asks curiously. "What are you doing here?" 

"I am the one who arranged this meeting." Kyoya explains and walks up to her and Lily. "I know you want to meet your real family Miss Tanake." Kyoya explains. 

"How do you know that? I've never told anyone that." Rose explains. 

"If you didn't want to meet them you wouldn't have come." Kyoya says then holds his hand out for her. "Come with me." He requests and Lily nervously whines. 

"It's okay girl." Rose reassures her dog. "Kyoya is our friend. We can trust him." She says with a smile. Kyoya's confident facade only falters slightly from her kind words and he brings her inside the abandoned house.

"I apologize for the setting but this was the safest place for us to meet." Kyoya explains as they enter what used to be the office of the house on the second floor. "But given who your real family is, there is a need for us to be somewhere private, to keep this secret." 

Kyoya sat down at a table where he had some folders, and Lily sniffed around, trying to pick up the new scents in her surroundings. He opened the folder and looked at her. 

"I am going to show you some pictures of people, and I want you to tell me if you recognize them at all." Kyoya says. Rose nods. 

He shows her a picture of a man with the same hair color as her, but different eye color. Rose tilted her head and played with a strand of her hair a bit. 

"He does seem a bit familiar..." She says. "But I can't seem to remember why." 

"How about this little boy?" Kyoya asks and holds up a picture of a little boy. 

Rose blinked and dropped the strand of her hair. She immediately recognized him. He had blonde hair and violet eyes that matched hers. 

"I know him...I know him!" She repeats. "I have dreams sometimes about playing in a garden or in a field with a little boy who looks just like that. Wait a minute...Is that little boy...Tamaki-senpai?" 

Kyoya paled and put the picture down. 

"Yes." He picks up another picture and Rose gasps and her eyes start to water. "And this woman is his mother, whom you are the spitting image of save for the difference in hair color and age. Do you recognize her?" 

"Yes. I see her in my dreams sometimes." Rose says and closes her eyes. "I keep having this dream about being in a ballroom, dancing with that little boy and then that woman comes over to me and picks me up and I dance with her too...” A tear slid down her cheek and she starts to sing.

 _Dancing bears, painted wings_  
Things I almost remember  
And a song someone sings  
Once upon a December  
  
Someone holds me safe and warm  
Horses prance through a silver storm  
Figures dancing gracefully  
Across my memory

She sang and then Lily barked happily and jumped at something hiding behind a curtain. 

“No stop Lily-chan you’ll give me away!” Tamaki wails but it was too late. 

He was already out in the open for Kyoya and Rose to see. 

“What are you doing here?” Kyoya growls. 

“I was going to get Haruhi some fancy tuna to support her during her studying for her exam but then I noticed you and decided to follow you and see what you were up to.” Tamaki says and sweat drops, rubbing the back of his head then he got serious. “You think that Rose is my long lost little sister don’t you?” 

“Yes. I’ve done some digging and it’s highly likely that Miss Tanake is your sister.” Kyoya tells him. “She recognizes you and your parents-“

”She knows the song my mother used to sing to me.” Tamaki interjects. “And she has her old locket...” He reaches out and holds the pendant in his hand. “I thought she lost it...I didn’t know she lost a daughter along with it...” He says and his eyes water and tears slide down his cheeks and he reaches his hand out and gently touches her cheek.

“There’s also the adoption papers.” Kyoya adds. “Under your mother’s name for her daughter Rose.” 

Tamaki sunk down to the ground and sulked. Rose just stared at him. This was her brother? Her big brother. 

“Tama...” She starts and kneels down next to him. “O-Onii-san?” She asks and touches his shoulder. 

Suddenly Tamaki exploded in joy and jumped up into the air. 

“Mon petite soeur!” He shouts and then scoops up Rose and spins her around. “Mon petite soeur! Mon petite soeur!” He chants and even tosses her in the air a few times before catching her and placing kisses all over her cheek. “I’m not an only child! Now I have my very own baby sister to take care of! Oh now I get how the twins feel oh Rose we’re totally going to outdo them on the sibling scale!” 

“I highly doubt that.” Rose says. 

“Oh I have to tell everyone! Tell the whole world that this adorable little peasant is my baby sister!” Tamaki yells. 

“Neither one of you will be telling anyone!” Kyoya stresses. “It’s imperative that this remains a secret for the reputation of the Suoh family. Tamaki your mother and father must have had a reason to keep her a secret. I highly suggest you keep it as well.” Kyoya stresses. 

“I understand.” Tamaki says seriously. 

Kaoru groaned as he ironed Honey’s school uniform on an ironing board while he sat amongst his stuffed animals eating cake. 

“Is this really necessary?” Kaoru asks Honey. 

“Yep. My favorite servants have off today and my school uniform needs to be ironed.” Honey says. 

“I get that but why did I have to wear a woman’s maid uniform!” Kaoru exclaims and looks down at the dress Honey made him wear. 

“It completes the look.” Honey says simply.

”It looks good on you.” Mori says, appearing out of nowhere, making Kaoru jump. 

“Mori-senpai? What are you doing here?” Kaoru asks. 

“Honey told me to come over.” Mori says with a shrug. 

“We got his text too.” Haruhi says, coming in with Hikaru. 

When they see Kaoru in the maid uniform their eyes widen and then they both break out into uncontrollable laughter and roll on the floor. 

“It’s not funny!” Kaoru complains and pouts. 

“It’s not funny it’s hilarious.” Hikaru says and laughs even harder with Haruhi. 

“Tamaki wait-“ Kyoya shouts and Tamaki rushes in carrying Rose bridal style. 

Kaoru immediately looked mortified and glared at Honey. 

“Oh sh-“ Honey’s about to say to himself before Tamaki cut him off by announcing:

“Rose is my little sister everyone!” Tamaki announces and raises her into the air. 

“Wait I thought she was your daughter, like me?” Haruhi asks. 

“Not anymore.” Tamaki says. “As it turns out my mom and dad are the ones that put Rose up for adoption when she was three. She’s my biological baby sister!” Tamaki shouts. 

“WHAT!?” Everyone exclaims in shock. 

“It’s true. I’ve got the papers to prove it.” Kyoya groans. “But he was supposed to keep it a secret!” 

“Kyoya this is too important to keep a secret!” Tamaki says and sets Rose down. 

“I am so sorry I didn’t know he’d bring Rosie-chan!” Honey whisper shouts to Kaoru. 

“You little-“ Kaoru groans. 

“Kaoru?” Rose asks and blushes when she sees him in the uniform. He was as red as a tomato. “Why are you wearing that?” 

“Honey made me put it on and do his laundry because his servants are on break today.” Kaoru says and points at Honey. Rose frowned. 

“Honey that’s not how you treat your friends!” Rose scolds him. “No matter how funny it is.” She laughs and Kaoru pouts. “Or how good you look in that uniform.” She says and gives him a thumbs up and Kaoru smiles.

”Okay can we get back to the Rose being Tamaki’s sister thing for a minute?” Hikaru asks, having trouble processing everything going on. 

“Yeah. What are the odds that Haruhi’s best friend is Tamaki’s little sister!” Honey exclaims. 

“It truly is as if fate brought them together.” Tamaki’s father says, entering the room. 

“You told him too?!” Kyoya exclaims. 

“Well of course I did!” Tamaki explains. “He’s her father!” 

“Father?” Rose asks and looks at him as he walks towards her.

He looked into her eyes and his started to tear up. 

“You look just like her. My dear Rose.” He says and then hugs her. Rose tears up and hugs him back. “I’ve missed you so much.” 

Tamaki got in on the hug too. Everyone watching from the outside smiled at the touching reunion. Then Kaoru realized...he was meeting the father of his crush in a dress...maybe he wouldn’t notice- 

“Why is that young man wearing a maid’s uniform?” Yusuru asks and Kaoru’s face fell. 

Rose smiled at him and giggled. 

“It’s just a prank Sir.” Honey quickly assures the man. “This is only the second time he’s worn woman’s clothing.” 

“Okay...” He says and Kaoru wanted to die right where he stood. 

Then he felt a familiar small hand press something into his fist and close it. He looked and saw Rose blush slightly and pull her hand back, fingertips ghosting over his wrist before Tamaki pulled her away. 

“Don’t mind those shady twins baby sister.” Tamaki says and slings his arm around her shoulders. “Now let’s get you home.” 

“Yes.” Yusuru says. “I want to meet the nice couple that raised you.” The three of them leave. 

Kaoru opens his hand and finds a piece of paper. It read:

_Honey-senpai told me you wanted this:_

Kaoru gasped as he saw a phone number. 

_Call me sometime. ;)_

“Thank you so much Honey-senpai!” Kaoru exclaims and hugs the boy. “Now I just have to figure out how to deal with her family...” Kaoru says worriedly and taps the paper against his finger. 

There may be some new obstacles in the way but Kaoru Hitachiin knew one thing for sure. He was madly in love with you, and he was going to do his best make you his.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I have more in store for this story so please comment if you would like more updates!


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